Bruins, Pastrnak turn back Maple Leafs in overtime
The Bruins and Maple Leafs have little left to prove this season.
Well, in the regular season, that is.
An early-April tune-up at TD Garden meant little in the standings for both teams on Thursday night.
Boston might be chasing history in the win column, but health stands at the forefront of its priorities with the top seed and home ice secured.
The Bruins’ unchallenged reign at the top of the Atlantic has locked the Leafs into a first-round bout with the Lightning for months.
But if one was looking for complacency during these dog days of spring, look no further than David Pastrnak.
The Bruins’ top sniper might have little to play for over the next week. But even with a bout of a stomach bug, Pastrnak took to the ice on Thursday — and put Boston on the brink of hockey history.
Pastrnak’s one-time howitzer at 2:30 in overtime completed a 2-1 comeback for the Bruins, who secured their 61st win of the season. Boston now sits just one victory behind the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning for the league’s regular-season wins record.
After assuring Jim Montgomery that his internal fortitude was suitable for game action, Pastrnak rewarded his coach by rifling home his 57th goal of the season — his sixth tally in the last five games.
“I can’t give him enough credit for how he willed himself to help us tonight,” Montgomery said of Pastrnak. “He was not at his 100% level. He was battling a stomach virus and I give him full credit for helping us win this hockey game.”
The Bruins avoided both insult and injury during their final regular-season bout with Toronto.
Charlie McAvoy was pulled from the game with 9:32 left in the second period after colliding with Patrice Bergeron. Boston ruled him out for the remainder of the contest, with Montgomery noting postgame that his removal was for “precautionary reasons”.
Even after dodging a serious injury scare, Montgomery acknowledged that McAvoy might sit out Boston’’s back-to-back set against the Devils and Flyers this weekend.
Even before McAvoy exited the contest, Boston’s transition play was routinely mired in muck — especially on a power-play unit that failed to cash in on four bids.
But a fellow Boston University product helped spark a third-period rally, set up by a timely keep-in by Brandon Carlo.
With a soaring puck all but ending a fruitful O-zone shift, Carlo jumped at the blue line and corralled the biscuit. The stay-at-home defenseman fed the puck over to Coyle, who promptly wristed it past Ilya Samsonov at 11:32 to force overtime.
“He’s got a pretty good vert, that guy,” Coyle said of the 6-foot-6 Carlo. “I had a bunch of room to work with and I think [Trent Frederic] and [Oskar] Steen were both driving the net so that gave me time and yeah, lucky it found a way in.”
Coyle’s 14th goal of the season snapped a sluggish stretch for the Bruins, who did little to tilt the ice or alleviate the pressure on Jeremy Swayman (31 saves).
Sam Lafferty opened the scoring for the Leafs at 11:34 in the second, capitalizing on a defensive breakdown and tapping a puck into a nearly vacated net off a backdoor strike.
Despite their sluggish play through the neutral zone, Boston once again clamped down in shorthanded situations.
Boston’s penalty kill did continue its extended surge, negating all three Toronto power plays and improving its unblemished record to 31 straight kills.
Toronto was nearly granted another power play in overtime, with Pavel Zacha whistled for a hand pass that was quickly rescinded upon video review.
Less than a minute later, Pastrnak uncorked a shot from the left circle that slipped past Samsonov for the game-winner.
“We have leaders like [Patrice Bergeron]. You learn from them all [your] life,” Pastrnak said of opting to play on Thursday. “so there’s not many things that can stop you, you know?”
The Bruins will look to clinch their record-tying 62nd win on Saturday night against the Devils. Puck drop at TD Garden is set for 8 p.m.
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